Devils’ game in Atlantic City postponed by bad ice

The Albany Devils’ game today against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall was postponed because of unfavorable ice conditions in the arena.

A make-up time and date was not immediately announced.

“We had a figure skating event here last night,” Boardwalk Hall general manager Greg Tesone. “We had to paint the ice white to paint over the top of the hockey lines so the lines weren’t visible.

“Our crew worked all night to cut the paint back out. You shave off ice until you to get back to the hockey ice. We shaved too much; the ice got too thin. Those were the areas that you saw broke off during warm-ups.

“At this point it’s going to take a while to get back to the thickness we need to play safely, and we just weren’t able to get there fast enough.”

Fans in attendance were given a voucher for any future Albany or Trenton games at Boardwalk Hall.

Lamoriello wanted to ensure the team’s minor-league affiliates would be in the right arena. It had to have good ice and locker-room facilities.

He didn’t know if Boardwalk Hall would be that place – until he visited the historical landmark for the first time.

“I was flabbergasted to see what this facility offered,” the Devils’ CEO/president and general manager said Tuesday during a news conference at the hall. “I am almost embarrassed that I’ve been in New Jersey 20 years and I have not seen this facility. It was a very easy decision once we came here.”

lol perhaps the A Devils should have played in Albany instead? It’s not like they have an arena there or anything. the above quoted text which ran in the press of Atlantic city on August 25, 2010 should make it perfectly clear what the devils org think about Albany and it’s people. I just hope we can get another AHL team in here after the devils does its number on us.

What a joke! I’ve seen some pics of the holes in the ice and you defintely couldn’t be playing hockey there last night.

Never saw that Lou quote before but it sounds like they kind of thing you would say when you move your franchise somewhere new. You praise the arena and the facilities. But man, what a fiasco in AC.

Would anyone ever take a chance on driving down there for a game given what happened? I know that I wouldn’t. And I’m really not sure why the Devils should bother trying there for the rest of the games. Just cancel the AC games and move them here and be done with the experiment.

Y’know, yesterday they played hoops at MSG in the afternoon and hockey at night. In AC, they couldn’t even play the one hockey game on the schedule that day. I don’t if the TUC crew has ever had to pull of something like what they do at MSG in one day, but we all know that they’ve had to turn around the arena from Siena hoops on one night to Rats game the next day and there has never been a an issue. Kudos to the TUC workers for being a professional crew all these years. The Ice is already in Albany!

I had a friend from work who is a VERY casual fan for hockey at best. He does go to a couple of hockey games in Albany a year as his favorite past time is gambling lol. He takes the bus trips to Atlantic City which run on Sun to Mon which for $90 includes the fare and overnight, excellent price. He took in the Devils VS Phantoms game in Atlantic City, to his suprise he said there was atleast a quarter of the people on the bus who were going to go to the game down there but he said that was it for Albany Devils fans. While the game was in NJ he said there was very little support for the Devils down there. I asked him as a casual fan what would it take for people like yourself to go more often and he replied, THEY HAVE TO WIN GAMES! He said casual fans like himself want something for their $$$$. He said if they cannot give away things like the Valleycats or offer low cost ways of attending games like the Valleycats he said the team had better be able to win games or at the least fight and put on a good show.

@Rob
I work at the Times Union Center seting up for the shows and yes we have done what they did at MSG yesterday. We have done it at least once a season for the past 6 or 7 years. We are not doing it this season but the past 6 or 7 seasons before this we had at least one Siena and Rats games in the same day. When I first started working there we us to have to do it like 2 or 3 different times a year. So yes we have done it before and done it quiet a few times. And it is not easy but with the right amount of people we would get it done.

@Scott, Well let me just say you guys at the TUC are first rate. I’ve seen concerts, sports, car shows and all sorts of events at the TUC over the years and the arena is always ready, no matter what. Keep up the good work!